Blood is Thicker than Water
by TommyOliverMMPRFan
Summary: Four of the senior Turbo Rangers are out, while Cassie, Carlos, TJ and Ashley are in. But there's also a diabolical family conspiracy lurking just below the surface and it's going to take the current team, all of Zordon's original Rangers and some old friends to neutralize it. TommyKim, JasonTrini, AdamTanya and many others. Remember, blood is ALWAYS thicker than water!
1. Prologue: Sister Sister

A/N: For those who really like Dimitria…I promise you, you won't like this. There weren't many characters I didn't like in Power Rangers but Dimitria is one of them. For the Tommy/Kim fans out there, I actually like Kat but not Dimitria. With that said, I present the following. This is a little plot bunny that's been brewing for some time.

A/N 2: It's a "new era" as the last of Zordon's original Rangers are ushered out by Dimitria of Inquiris and four new Rangers are slated to take their places. But is this really a new era…or is it a diabolical conspiracy aimed at bringing down the Power Rangers? Remember folks…just like the title says, blood is thicker than water, always.

A/N 3: I own nothing as per usual. I've also got some nice little surprises in store for this coming week.

Prologue: Sister, Sister

September 1997

The Power Chamber

Angel Grove, California

As the old saying goes…blood is always thicker than water. No matter which side you are supposed to be on in the never ending war between good and evil.

In the four years that the Power Rangers had been saving the city…and the world for that matter…from countless alien invaders, they had beaten back all the challenges they had faced. Extraordinary young men and women, these teenagers were.

They had also beaten back the challenges of some of the greatest forces in the universe. Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, the Machine Empire…even Master Vile himself, as diabolical as he was, had never been able to seize Earth. Zordon and his Power Rangers had halted these evils at every turn.

What was funny to Dimitria of Inquiris, as she continued to berate her "partner in crime" Alpha 6, was that these so-called superheroes had been gullible enough to believe that their "time had come to step away."

As far as she was concerned, they were complete idiots not even close to being worthy of being in the same room with her. They also did not sense that their decision to step away would lead to the demise of Earth and a new era of evil.

You see, while Zordon of Eltar had many traits which were admirable, he was often too noble for his own good. He had actually been foolish enough to enter a friendship with Dimitria, and what was foolish about it was that she was the blood sister of the latest threat to Earth, Divatox.

But still, Zordon had been foolish enough to enter a friendship with her, which Dimitria had used to her complete advantage. Even before she had given him the go ahead to "go home" to Eltar (knowing full well that her friends led by Dark Spectre would soon conquer that planet as well, rendering Zordon's legacy completely useless), she knew the layout of the Power Chamber by heart.

And all this time, Dimitria had been plotting back home. While Inquiris was not by nature an evil planet, these two blood sisters were as evil as could be. The planet already knew of Dimitria's sister, but they did not know of the danger that lurked just outside Angel Grove itself, which had been deemed by most members of the Alliance as impossible to conquer.

Well, Dimitria had her mind set on changing all of that. As reckless and ruthless as Divatox could be, Dimitria was without question the brains of her family and had been for centuries. She hadn't gone off destroying worlds yet, as she preferred to wait for the perfect time and place.

She preferred that everyone think she was nice and easy to like, so that when she finally did unleash her ultimate wrath that it would take everyone by surprise. You know, like Scorpina had done once to that idiot Adam. How had he become a Power Ranger anyways?

Dimitria hated all of the first Turbo team but Adam was right near the top – he was too shy for his own damn good, he came off as a guy who had no friends and the guy was an ugly runt. How could anyone think of going out with him?

Then there was Katherine, who was second of the least favorite Power Punks in Dimitria's eyes. Actually, she hated both of Cassie's predecessors almost equally but at least Kimberly had made something of herself even though she was a ditzy valley girl.

She smiled when she thought of the stupid letter that Kimberly had sent – she actually hated Kimberly a little less because when it was all said and done and Earth was a barren wasteland, that Kimberly and her racecar loving ex would never get the chance to mend fences. That moron Dulcea had also claimed her to be the agile, graceful Crane Ninjetti. So far as Dimitria was concerned Dulcea was a failure at life and was nothing but Zordon's lapdog.

That brought Dimitria's thoughts back to Kimberly's racecar loving ex. Just the thought of that pony-tailed idiot made bile run up her throat.

As said bile ran up her throat, the one thought she had of Tommy was that when he had left the state of Arkansas to come to California (Tommy was an Arkansas boy through and through), he had decreased the IQ of California and increased the IQ of the state of Arkansas, as backwoods as it was, by a thousand fold.

Yet, as much as she despised every single member of Zordon's Original 12 (with the exception of maybe Justin who she almost felt sorry for), she had to admit they had proven to be worthy opponents.

They had proven that enough that at some point after their mother Mama D had tried her hand but lost, that it was probably best if Dimitria moved the older veterans out. They were getting ready to go off to…what was it…college, anyways, and it would give her the perfect out. No one would suspect what she was up to. And sure enough, it worked, the older senior Rangers had taken the bait.

When she did finally decide to attack, she said to herself, no one would ever forget it.

Yes, she would let the little runts that were replacing the last of Zordon's original 12 have their fun for awhile. She almost felt sorry for the newest members of the legacy…as stupid as their predecessors were these guys and girls were completely inexperienced and totally incapable of doing what their predecessors had done.

Dimitria's face suddenly lit up when she saw her sister on the globe. One of the things Dimitria had done (and it had been so successfully concealed that the Rangers wouldn't have been able to recognize it) was place a chip in the Power Chamber's controls which allowed Divatox and Dimitria access to contact each other.

Dimitria frowned when she saw that Divatox had a scowl on her face.

"What did Elgar do this time to make you upset?" Dimitria said.

"Oh he's just being his usual dumb self," Divatox groused. "It pisses me off enough that I want to find something that can give the Rangers a REAL challenge. I haven't even shown them close to what I'm capable of yet!"

"Maybe our brother General Havoc would provide them some competition?" Dimitria said. "I agree, they have had it way too easy so far. Perhaps it's time they were forced to go to the next level. Havoc and Metallosaurus can make them do that."

"Sure he can," Divatox said. "Maybe he wins and maybe he doesn't. If he wins, then all the better for us but if he doesn't, it keeps those idiots off our backs enough to continue to implement our real plan. Phase 1 was a success which I was actually scared about."

"Right," Dimitria said. "Remember, don't be too reckless. We don't want these Rangers to suspect a thing."

Divatox nodded. She understood that unless she played her part to perfection, then this whole thing would blow up in both her and Dimitria's faces.

"Very soon," Divatox said, "the Earth will be ours!"

And so, on the outside, there lay the barren wasteland of the California desert…and not too far away from that, Angel Grove. It was a city that knew not of the diabolical plot that was to come its way.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 1: Life Isn't Fair

A/N: For those who really like Dimitria…I promise you, you won't like this. There weren't many characters I didn't like in Power Rangers but Dimitria is one of them. With that said, I present the following. Oh and I own nothing.

A/N 2: It's a "new era" as the last of Zordon's original Rangers are ushered out by Dimitria of Inquiris and four new Rangers are slated to take their places. But is this really a new era…or is it a diabolical conspiracy aimed at bringing down the Power Rangers? Remember folks…just like the title says, blood is thicker than water, always.

Chapter 1 – Life Isn't Fair

**Some time after the powers were transferred**

**7:40 on a Friday night**

**Angel Grove Park**

Somehow, life just wasn't fair for Justin Stewart.

It was true for everybody, in a sense, but it was especially true for young Justin after what he had just heard.

The thing was, he and the rest of his new teammates should have been celebrating a humongous victory as they had just destroyed Metallosaurus (the improved one) for good. Instead, he was wondering how life could get so cruel.

**Flashback, a little while ago**

**Usually on a Friday night, Justin would go to the Power Chamber and check the security details in the Power Chamber, as well as check for any sort of technical issues that there might be.**

**However, tonight when he tried to enter, he found himself locked out.**

**It was a weird scenario, he thought, he was normally able to enter the Power Chamber any time he wanted as long as he had his Turbo Key and Morpher, which he had.**

**Suddenly, he stopped – there were voices talking which immediately raised his suspicions. Something was up and he wanted to know what it was. On whim decided to hit the play button on a little tiny recorder that he always kept with him.**

**What he heard next just about made his heart shatter in a million pieces. He somehow managed to keep his composure to listen to the conversation going on then he shut off the recorder and teleported out when he was finished.**

**End Flashback**

Justin now knew he had a right to feel important – because he now knew the secret that had been well kept up until that point.

He knew of the conspiracy (and a conspiracy within a conspiracy as well) that was afoot, which could destroy the original team from the inside out. In fact, as it turned out, it already had.

That didn't make him feel any better about it though, especially not when he'd crept through the park earlier and saw one of his former team members, Tommy, yelling at his ex-girlfriend Kimberly. Once lovers, the two were now as far apart as could be and simply could not be counted on to work with each other.

Those two incidents fresh in his mind, he sat on a bench and cried himself a river of tears for what he had found out. The only good thing to come out of this was that Divatox and Dimitria would be away for a weekend with each other…girl bonding time if you will.

Sometimes, life just wasn't fair.

Meanwhile, not too far away, two young adults were walking hand in hand through the park, just happy to be back home.

They had taken their time figuring out that they were best when they were together and they'd both had their flirtations with other people, but in the end, these two Peace Conference members and former Power Rangers had figured out that they were meant for each other.

The young man known as Jason had been back in town for a while obviously. First, he had been in uniform once more for a brief while Trey had gathered enough strength to get his powers back. Then, there had been the whole Murianthias fiasco which had put every one of the team members involved on edge.

At the heart of it all was the fact that two other former lovers…and every one of the first Earth Rangers who had served under Zordon…had grown as far apart as could be. The Murianthias incident, while it had only made Kimberly evil for a short time, had awoken the anger and untapped aggression inside of her.

\No doubt, she could hold her own with the guys and didn't play like the nice, sweet valley girl anymore. Part of that made the team proud of Kimberly (even Tommy, for as much as the two hated each other), but it also scared the crap out of them too because if Kimberly lost it mentally she could hurt someone badly now. Even Jason's girlfriend, a master at kung fu, was scared to be around her still best friend.

Meanwhile, Trini Kwan had somehow been able to stay out of the line of fire. At the same time, she had worked hard to finish high school and being back home, was now taking psychology classes at UCLA (where Jason was also studying business). The two owned an apartment in town, where they lived when not in classes.

"Feel good to be back?" Jason asked his young girlfriend as they turned right on a path.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Trini said. "I remember the last time I was here was when we were getting ready to go off to Geneva. Adam, Aisha and Rocky had just become members of the family and we were back at Ernie's. My, how times have changed."

"Yeah and let me tell you, the villain these days…she's ugly," Jason said. "At least Rita was comical. Where in the world do they come up with these villains?"

"No clue, Jason," Trini said. "You know, I've been longing for…"

"You've been longing for this?" Jason said as he leaned closer, inches from Trini's face. As he was about to give Trini another of his soft kisses, he was suddenly interrupted by what appeared to be someone weeping nearby.

"Is…is that someone crying?" Trini said, her suspicions immediately rising as well.

"I think it is. Stay here and let me go check it out," Jason said. Trini nodded as Jason briskly walked not more than half a football field away to a park bench. Once he got to the park bench, he leaned closer to get a good look and much to his surprise, he saw Justin, his face stained with fresh tears and his face a bright red. It was obvious he had been crying for some time.

Something had obviously happened if he was crying this bad.

"Um, excuse me, is something wrong?" Jason said as he saw the boy momentarily lift his tear stained face. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"It's…it's nothing," Justin said as he continued to sob relentlessly. He knew who the man standing in front of him was…in fact he'd seen the man back at the Maligore fiasco but the girl with him made him stop before he said the magic word. "I don't think there's any way you could possibly help me. I've been caught in a horrible conspiracy and there's not a thing I can do about it."

Immediately, Jason's face turned stoic. He knew something Ranger related was up and Justin saw him whisper something to the girl next to him. He then saw the girl, dressed in a pale yellow halter, step forward.

"Sweetheart if this is Ranger related then I need to know about it too. In the end we're all family," she said. "I'm Trini and I'm the first Yellow Ranger. You must be Justin and something horrible must have happened if you're crying like this."

"Oh god, it's awful," Justin said as he felt himself being pulled into a hug. "There's no way we can beat who we're up against…there's just no way. The Earth as we know it is doomed."

Trini was completely shocked to hear him say this. No Power Ranger ever backed down from a fight no matter how long the odds…either he was really ignorant about what his predecessors had overcome or the current team was up against a really dangerous opponent…or god forbid, opponents.

Jason himself was confused. Not only would he never back down from a fight, of the villains that have come through he feared Divatox the least. The pit on Murianthias didn't have anything to do with her…that was all Maligore.

"I know you're confused," Justin said. "Divatox by herself is not scary. Divatox allied with someone we're supposed to trust…I can't tell you how much I'm scared right now…and you should be too once the two of them find out you're in town."

"What do you mean, someone you're supposed to trust?" Trini said. "Are you telling me that there's a conspiracy…a mole in your group?"

"It's Dimitria…our so-called mentor…she's the half sister of Divatox and the two want to wipe us and Zordon's legacy out once and for all. She's selling us out and throwing us to the wolves, right when we NEED HER!" Justin said. "Somehow she conned Zordon into going home so she could replace him and destroy us. How is this fair?"

"Are you sure about this Justin?" Jason said. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"I'm as sure as the day is long about this," Justin said as he suddenly pulled out a small device and placed it in Jason's hands. "I run background checks on the Power Chamber every Friday night and went to go do so again but found the door locked. This is a recorder that has every second of a conversation they had tonight on tape. I got locked out which actually was fortunate tonight."

"We can't play that in the park, dear," Trini said to Jason before he could press the button. Jason could only nod.

"And we won't," Jason said, suddenly turning to Justin. "You really shouldn't be out this late. You need to get home."

"Parents are out of town this weekend too, making this the worst weekend ever," Justin said. "At least around my adopted family I could crack a smile. Now, there's no one."

Jason and Trini looked at each other.

"Then you can come stay with us for the evening," Trini said. "Why don't you go home and shower and we'll be over to pick you up in about an hour."

Justin nodded and ran off through the park, as Jason and Trini headed for Jason's motorcycle.

About an hour later, Jason and Trini were on Jason's motorcycle again, about to pick up Justin, but any signs of happiness were gone as the both of them had heard the message that Justin had recorded. The Earth was indeed in grave danger unless a miracle occurred.

They could only feel sorrow and sadness for the boy at what he was going through. Someone who was supposed to be his friend, his mentor, his guiding light, was conspiring to not just bring him down, but bring down everything the Power Rangers stood for.

Justin had said that what he was going through wasn't fair – and it wasn't. Unfortunately, Zordon's prized champions had learned long ago that life just wasn't fair sometimes. It was something which had molded these warriors into fighting champions.

What made Jason and Trini's blood boil even more was a sinister plot within a sinister plot to break up the older Rangers so they could be easier to destroy.

Jason realized now that the fighting going on with two of the "big three" as Zordon's teens liked to call them wasn't totally their fault. It still was their fault, to some degree.

But the majority of blame lied with the sinister traitor which called the Power Chamber home.

They shuddered to think that the Chamber, which once housed so many memories, was home to such a sinister, vile woman now. Dimitria, the two elder former Rangers understood, wore pure white.

But there was nothing pure about the plot she and her sister were conspiring.

Jason and Trini felt bad for the current Rangers too. To their knowledge, Justin was the only one who knew about the conspiracy that was afoot. When they found out (and Jason knew they eventually would) they would be just as angry no doubt.

Just then, they saw Justin coming out of the house with the necessary things he would need for the evening.

"Nice ride," Justin said as he hopped on the back of the motorcycle. "You live close to here?"

"Yeah we do," Trini said, her face growing serious. "Justin, I know you feel sad right now but you just did all of us a remarkable service by getting that information. That was very clever of you to have that recorder with you."

"It doesn't feel like I did a good job when I know in my heart we can't beat Divatox and Dimitria by ourselves. It just isn't possible."

"I agree, you're not going to be able to beat them by yourselves. Together they could probably beat the five of you any time they wanted," Trini said as Jason suddenly took off on his motorcycle. "They are more experienced and more wise together than any evil that any Ranger team has faced. That's why we're going to help you any way we can. That's who we are and that's what we do. Powers or not we will do all we can."

As he drove the motorcycle to his apartment he knew that what Trini said was true. That Zordon's champions were dedicated to defending Earth's cause, though there were some obvious cracks in the foundation.

However, he also knew Trini was right that unless the originals somehow got powers back and were able to repair fragile relationships, then the Turbo team would be left to fend for themselves against Dimitria and Divatox which would almost certainly spell their impending doom. No situation that any of these Rangers had ever faced was quite like this one, no opponent who had faced them knew them as well as Dimitria did.

In fact, he had to admit that her plot within the plot had been a genius idea – that it had done exactly what it was designed to do and that was tear the foundation of the team from the inside out. It was a vile plot but it had worked.

The Earth was in a lot of trouble right now – and Jason more than anyone knew that it might take divine intervention to save it.

As he pulled up to his apartment – the statement by Justin was never more true that it was at the moment.

Life just wasn't fair.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 2: Hung Over

A/N: For those who really like Dimitria…I promise you, you won't like this. There weren't many characters I didn't like in Power Rangers but Dimitria is one of them. With that said, I present the following.

A/N 2: It's a "new era" as the last of Zordon's original Rangers are ushered out by Dimitria of Inquiris and four new Rangers are slated to take their places. But is this really a new era…or is it a diabolical conspiracy aimed at bringing down the Power Rangers? Remember folks…just like the title says, blood is thicker than water, always. Oh and I own nothing.

Chapter 2 – Hung Over

**About 9:30 p.m. on that Friday night**

**Angel Grove, CA**

At this point, Jason and Trini were relieved for one reason and one reason only – that Justin was finally looking a little better. A nice, long and hot shower had done that, and now the three were having a fairly nice evening watching a movie.

It was the least they could do for their friend because both of them knew how painful being a Ranger was. Both of them still remembered as if it were yesterday when Tommy (when he was evil) had caused the original team to lose their Zords in a battle. To this day, that remained the most painful memory for the both of them.

"Are you better now?" Trini said to Justin, giving him a smile that warmed his heart. It was the smile a mother would give to a wounded child.

"Yeah, I'm better," Justin said. "It's just hard knowing someone we're supposed to trust is actually your biggest enemy."

"We had that before but never to this extreme," Trini said. "Zordon has many faults but he told us straight to our faces right after we took the mantle about his shortcomings. It's unfortunate this…lady…doesn't abide by the same standards."

Right as she finished saying that, there was a loud banging on the door.

"Oh shoot," Jason muttered. "Tommy was supposed to pick something up from here tonight. He's here now."

"Wait. Don't let him leave without that recorder. He needs to know what's going on," Justin said.

"Right, he's going to cry a million tears but he needs to know what's going on as well," Jason said.

"Hey bro, I don't have all night! Let me in!" Tommy bellowed as he continued to bang on the door.

"Geez, bro," Jason said as he stopped the movie then finally opened the door. "Did you not consider there are other people in this apartment?"

"Well if you'd answer the door the first time I knock I wouldn't have to scream at the top of my freaking voice," Tommy snapped. "You knew I was coming."

"Well you're late for everything and we had things to do tonight so excuse me," Jason groused. Tommy looked like he wanted to hurt Jason right there but he also knew Jason was right about him being late for everything. "Give me a minute. And by the way, watch your mouth as we have young ears listening to your every word."

A few minutes later, Jason and Trini returned with a bag of stuff for school – Tommy was also going to school at UCLA but was living in an apartment in Los Angeles as he'd retired from stock car racing and was focusing on his studies.

He also had made sure to grab something else which Tommy looked at curiously.

"What the heck would I need this for Jason?" Tommy said.

"You need this because I found out some shocking news," another voice cut in before Jason could finish. Tommy looked in surprise to see Justin step in between Jason and Trini.

"Justin, what are you doing here? You look like you've been through hell," Tommy said.

"That's nothing compared to what he looked like when we found him in the park two hours ago," Trini said. "Look, Tommy, we know you're going to cry a million tears after listening to the information that is on that recorder but you need to know what's going on."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Tommy said. "Is it Ranger related?"

"Very much so, bro," Jason said. "And when you're finished with that, if you see any of the guys around LA, make sure to give them the information too. Every one of them needs to know."

Tommy sighed and nodded. He gave Jason a quick hug, then closed the door and was gone.

Trini looked Jason and said, "You know about his massive guilt complex."

Jason nodded and said, "Yeah and it's going to be bigger than ever after tonight. I feel bad for what he's going to have to hear."

**One day later**

Fresh off a hot game of basketball, Rocky DeSantos and Adam Park decided to hit their favorite watering hole to do what pretty much any college kid does at the end of the week – get hammered.

Even though the Power Team was, for the most part, split between the different Los Angeles area schools (with the exception of Kat, who had gone to London), some of the team still usually went to a specific place to drink, take a load off, or do whatever at the end of the week. As they had found out, college life was very, very hard.

As they prepared to walk to the counter and order their drinks, something caught their eye. There was a man, at the counter, drinking like a madman with tears running down his face.

"Is that Tommy?" Adam said.

"Yeah, I think it is," Rocky said. "This is weird. He NEVER drinks this much. And it looks like he is crying."

Right as Rocky said this, the two were surrounded by a flash of light. Their bodies were still in the bar but their spirits were somewhere else – it was like they were in a trance.

They could see a dense jungle, in which there was a large tree. In this tree resided a falcon and crane, and they were preparing to start a loving family.

Rocky and Adam watched hopelessly as they saw two predators attack both birds, both of whom had been unprepared for the attack.

Rocky and Adam saw four familiar figures arrive – a bear, wolf, ape and frog. Rocky and Adam couldn't help but smile at how familiar those animals were. Along with them were several other figures they did not recognize.

However, their smiles faded when they saw that both birds had been successfully killed. And without what appeared to be their spiritual leaders, the other four were immediate vulnerable and fell victim to the two predators, both of whom looked far more powerful than imagined.

As the scene faded out, a familiar voice echoed inside their heads, saying, **'All of you are in great danger. Prevent this from happening, before it is too late.'**

Right as Rocky and Adam snapped out of their trance, they saw Tommy collapsing from too much alcohol, but managed to catch him before he could hit the ground.

"Man, he drove himself to drink," Rocky said. "He's going to have a HELL of a hangover when he wakes up."

As Adam and Rocky looked at their fallen friend, a small device slipped out of his pocket – one that looked a lot like a Turbo Navigator, but with some differences. Adam managed to catch it before it hit the ground – which was a good thing because it could have broken apart on impact.

"Do you think that device has anything to do with why he's acting the way he is?" Rocky said.

"I dunno," Adam said. "Perhaps we should take him back to our apartment and lay him down. He's going to be out for awhile. In the meantime, we can figure out what to do about this."

A couple of hours later, Rocky and Adam had laid Tommy down on a makeshift bed so he could rest…and at the same time they felt like they should maybe go out for a drink as well.

"God how could I be so stupid?" Adam said. "I knew there was something I didn't like about her. Rock, we were cheated! We didn't even get a choice all because this girl wants to take over Earth with her sister!"

"Zordon would at least have given us the choice if we wanted to step down," Rocky said. "That's just lower than dirt. Shit, I don't even know Dimitria and now I just want to beat the crap out of her. And I think I want to go for a drink too."

"We're going to have to find Kimberly and tell her about this," Adam said. "And we're going to have to make sure Tommy's not in the same room."

Suddenly, there was a loud banging – and I do mean loud banging – on the door.

"Somebody let me in here!" a distinctly female voice shrieked.

"Speak of the devil," Adam muttered.

Rocky eventually got off his butt and got to the door – to find Kimberly on the other side. To Rocky's surprise, Kimberly looked like hell too.

"Jesus, Kim!" Rocky said. "Shit, you look pale too."

"Yeah, let me in here, Rock," Kim said. "I feel like I got run over by a freaking truck and I don't know why."

Before Rocky or Adam could say anything more, Kimberly shrieked in fright at seeing Tommy's prone carcass laying flat on his back, just as pale as she was.

In seconds, she had sprinted to his side and was looking him over.

Rocky and Adam looked at each other as Adam muttered, "I think the spell is broken. When Tommy found out the news the hatred went away, and thus Kimberly's hatred went away too. There's going to be some hurting for a while though."

Right as they finished talking, Kim looked up and looked at both men.

"What happened?" Kim said. "He looks pale but I hope he'll be OK. He's at least breathing."

"He'll be OK but he's gonna have a hell of a hangover," Rocky said. "Kim…I hate to say it, but I think he passed out because of this."

As he finished talking, he put a small device in Kimberly's hands.

"Kim, I hate to say it, but I have a feeling our time as Rangers isn't done," Adam said. "I think the reason he passed out is because of what's on this device."

"My question is how did you know to come over here?" Rocky said. "We were actually just talking about someone finding you before you came over here."

"Somehow, I just knew something was up and I needed to come here," Kim said. "It's crazy."

Adam then snapped his fingers.

"The Ninjetti Animal Spirits," he said. "I think whether you want to admit it or not, Kim, you and Tommy are connected on deeper levels than you want to admit. When Tommy passed out I think you became pale too and it drew you here."

"But we don't have our powers anymore, remember?" Kim said. "The Power Coins were destroyed."

"Sure," Rocky said. "But Kim, you remember what Dulcea said…to those who possess the Great Power, all things are possible. I think you still have powers even if you don't realize it. Anyways, you should really listen to what's on this tape. I don't know how the hell we got that information but we're all in trouble."

Numbly, Kim took the device and said, "I'm going back to my apartment and in case I come back angry tomorrow you'll know why. I don't like the sound of this."

Some time later, as Rocky and Adam were watching a movie (it was about midnight at this point), they heard a groaning nearby.

"Ugh…did someone get the number of that Mack truck that ran over me?" Tommy said as he sat up. Immediately, Adam ran to his side.

"Hey man, easy now," Adam said. "You've been out since about six tonight. You look less pale though."

"Yeah I feel a little better," Tommy said. "Hey, where's that recorder? I didn't feel it with me when I woke up."

"Uh, Kim has it now," Adam said. "She was by here earlier when she found out you passed out from drinking. You started looking less pale when she was here."

Instead of blowing his fuse like had the last year or so at any mention of Kim, Tommy just nodded.

"She'll know to take care of that device and the information that is on it when she hears it," Tommy said.

"Who got that information anyways?" Adam said. "You know Dimitria has had the Power Chamber on lockdown if she's planning to pull this crap."

"I don't know how he did it but Justin got the information. As the story goes, he went to run checks on the Power Chamber as he does every Friday and couldn't get in so he figured something was up. We are so lucky he had that recorder," Tommy said.

"Boy are we ever," Adam said. "Now we can start planning."

"Where do we start?" Tommy said. "We don't even have powers anymore."

"Yes we do," Adam said. "You do too."

As the realization struck Tommy, he started shaking. He knew what both men were talking about but he was not looking forward to Phaedos again, nor was he looking forward to seeing Dulcea again if it came to that.

It wasn't so much that he had a problem with Dulcea, it's more that he knew how demanding she was and he knew she would be disappointed at him being duped, and she probably would be mad at Kimberly too.

Not that it was Kim's fault, as Tommy had found out, as she couldn't have known that Dimitria had gone in disguise to put a potion in one of Kimberly's energy drinks which forced the infamous letter.

In short, he feared Dulcea, and had every right to feel as he did. He was scared enough of her after the last trip to Phaedos when she'd humiliated him in front of his teammates.

"Tommy, I know how you feel, but it's the only way man," Rocky said. "We can't go get the Zeo Crystal and recharge it, and the other team has the Turbo Powers. The only way this can work is to go to Phaedos."

Tommy knew both men were right and swallowed hard – it didn't mean he liked it.

"Hey, if I know Dulcea like I think I do, she isn't mad at you Tommy," Adam said. "She might be concerned about you but I can't see her ever getting angry enough to lash out and beat you to a pulp."

"Yeah but she has every right to be angry at me," Tommy said. "How could I have fallen for something as stupid as that? I should have gone to Florida, I just knew it!"

"Tommy, you and I both know Zordon would never have allowed that," Rocky said. "You remember the rules. Besides, you know how angry Kimberly got while under that spell. She could have beat you up and then where would we be? It's all Dimitria's fault and none of yours."

Tommy swallowed hard again, knowing that he was letting his guilt complex get to him again.

"Look man, I know you're hurting but knowing you, when you wake up again tomorrow you'll be ready to kick some butt," Adam said. "In the meantime, we probably need to take you home."

"Yeah, let's," Tommy said. "I took a walk to the bar after I listened to that crap, knowing I couldn't drive while I was that angry. It was the longest 30 minute walk ever."

"I bet," Rocky said as he nodded to Adam. "You take him."

Adam nodded and led Tommy out…fortunately for Adam the men had spotted Tommy before they could order drinks so they weren't hammered like Tommy was.

Across town near the USC campus, Kimberly had just heard the recording and was crying herself to sleep.

While she was grateful for the information and would probably feel good enough to get back to Angel Grove in the morning, she felt like absolute crap now. How could she be so stupid? The spell was broken and she didn't hate Tommy anymore, but what had snapped her out of it hurt her more than anything else.

Not only did it hurt her personally, she hurt for the current Turbo team – the replacements who were currently holding the mantles. She'd never met Dimitria and already she wanted to rip the woman limb from limb. She was supposed to be the mentor for this team, as Zordon was a father to her and the rest of her own teammates, and not only had Dimitria failed at that task she had done so spectacularly.

As she drifted off to sleep, tears streaming down her cheeks, she never heard the voice inside her head, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be OK, and that it was neither her fault nor Tommy's.

She was too heartbroken to care.

TBC…


End file.
